Karolina Pliskova was in the “Down Under” turning the tennis world upside down at the Australian Open.
That’s because Pliskova somehow managed to come back from the brink of elimination—trailing 1-5 in the final set… to Serena Williams
And of all things, Serena started the collapse in the quarterfinal after being called for a foot-fault when she was serving on match point.
Williams was serving for the match at 5-1 in the third when she was called for a foot-fault, and then appeared to roll her left ankle during a point. She was broken while serving for the match.
Pliskova would then win six straight games to win it 6-4, 4-6, 7-5—fighting off three match points on her own serve—and advanced to a semifinal against Naomi Osaka.
Svitolina had her neck and shoulders massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout while trailing 3-0 in the second set.
The No. 6 seed from Ukraine said afterward that she had been troubled by pain in that area since the start of the tournament.
Turns out she was the pain in the neck of Serena.
Source: ESPN